At 1AM, Kanade finishes working on the demo for the next N25 song. She thinks the demo sounds good, but she then remembers the promise she made to Mafuyu and wonders if this song will be able to save her. When everyone has logged into Nightcord, Kanade sends over her song demo. Once they’ve all listened to it, Kanade asks Mafuyu how it made her feel, which Mafuyu responds to by saying it sounded “very Kanade”. Ena points out that that’s not what Kanade meant, so Mafuyu adds on that she didn’t hate the song, but she doesn’t think she liked it either. Ena asks how that can be, and Mafuyu says that when you like something, you feel that way, but she didn’t. Ena chides Mafuyu for what she said to Kanade, but Kanade appreciated the honesty.
After Mafuyu logs off for the night, Ena comments on how tiring she finds Mafuyu. She points out that when they talked in the Empty SEKAI, although she found Mafuyu irritating, she could understand her to some degree, but now Mafuyu just feels like an emotionless robot that no one can understand. Mizuki tries to point out the positive that Mafuyu is being more honest, but Kanade realises that she needs to get to know Mafuyu and her feelings better.
The next day, Kanade looks back on her promise to Mafuyu again, and reminds herself that she has to compose a song to save Mafuyu or else there is no meaning to her existence. Honami then arrives at Kanade’s apartment, and after she’s done tidying, she makes tea for her and the other girl. Kanade tells Honami that she’s an amazing person because of how good at housekeeping she is and how caring she is. Honami tells her that she’s glad she took the job because she loves to help people in need, remarking that it makes her happy to make others happy. Kanade then asks Honami for advice, since she is also trying to help someone. Honami listens to Kanade’s situation, and suggests that she get to know the person she wants to help more. Before she leaves, Honami gives Kanade some tickets to a doll exhibition that she is unable to attend.
When N25 meets on Nightcord that night, Kanade notices that Mafuyu’s lyrics don’t tell her anything about how she is feeling, unlike the lyrics that she wrote as OWN. During their session, Mizuki mentions how little they’ve been able to go out recently, so Kanade offers them her exhibition tickets. Mizuki is intrigued by the exhibition, and proposes that they all go together the following weekend.
Before she leaves for cram school the following Saturday, Mafuyu informs her mother that she was invited to the art gallery by someone at school and won’t be home until the evening. Her mother inquires into what exhibition she’ll be seeing, and upon learning that it’s about dolls, she suggests that Mafuyu spend her time on something more educational, such as a painting exhibit. Mafuyu promises to go to an upcoming painting exhibit with her mother on another day, even though it won’t be nearly as enriching for her as her mother thinks.
When they enter the doll exhibit, Kanade notices that Mafuyu’s expression changes slightly, but Mafuyu doesn’t say anything. Mafuyu isn’t particularly interested, and heads off to use the bathroom. However, on her way there she sees a doll that’s being held up by strings - a marionette. The doll sends reminds Mafuyu of herself, and sends her into a panic attack. After she’s been gone for a while, Kanade goes looking for her and finds her looking extremely unwell. Once Mafuyu has calmed down, Kanade asks why the doll made her feel unwell, but she isn’t sure why it had that effect on her.
Later in the afternoon, Kanade realises that she got more questions than answers from their outing, and goes to the Empty SEKAI to see if Miku can tell her anything about how Mafuyu feels. Miku admits that despite the SEKAI being born from Mafuyu’s feelings, it doesn’t mean that she knows how Mafuyu feels at any given time, but she suggests that she and Kanade think about how Mafuyu is feeling together. When Kanade mentions that the marionette was what Mafuyu reacted to, Miku mentions that she has a feeling that that doll reminds Mafuyu of herself.
That night, Mafuyu has a dream that she’s back at the doll exhibition. Mizuki and Ena are there as well, talking about one of the dolls in the exhibit. Mafuyu realises that the doll they are talking about is her, but she decides that she doesn’t mind being a doll, because it means she doesn’t have to do anything for herself anymore - she just has to do as she’s told, which should make everyone happier. Kanade suddenly appears in front of Mafuyu, and asks her what she is feeling. Mafuyu asks Kanade why she keeps asking how she feels when she can’t feel anything, and even if she did, no one cares. Kanade tells her that isn’t true and asks again for Mafuyu to tell her how she feels.
Mafuyu wakes up and realises that she fell asleep after logging onto Nightcord. She tells the real Kanade about her dream, who once again asks how Mafuyu is feeling. Mafuyu bluntly remarks about Kanade repeatedly asking, so Kanade tells her that she wants to see things from her point of view and understand her, so she can get one step closer to saving her. Mafuyu says that she can’t help Kanade since she doesn’t even understand herself, she just lives every day without anything giving her joy and always feels like there’s something missing. Kanade notices Mafuyu’s frustration, and suggests that she try putting her feelings into lyrics if she’s struggling to put them into words. Mafuyu doesn’t think she can do it, since she wasn’t consciously writing her feelings into lyrics as OWN, even if that’s when Kanade could understand her most. Kanade remembers what Miku said about the marionette, and advises Mafuyu to write about what she saw in it instead.
Mafuyu still can’t figure out why the marionette made her feel sick, so she seeks out Miku in the Empty SEKAI. Miku mentions that Kanade was there earlier because she wanted to learn about Mafuyu’s feelings, which Mafuyu responds to by saying that even if Kanade understood her, she wouldn’t be able to do anything, besides the fact that she doesn’t need anything as “useless” as feelings. Miku informs Mafuyu that everything she feels is an important part of her, even if it is unpleasant and painful. Mafuyu then notices that there’s a similar doll to the marionette sitting in the SEKAI, although it doesn’t have stings. Miku tells her that it’s always been there, she just never spotted it before. Miku shows Mafuyu the ladder she made while playing cats cradle using the strings she cut from the marionette, which makes Mafuyu realise that the doll is no longer a marionette, and is free.
On Nightcord the next night, Ena says that she doesn’t understand why Mafuyu could see herself in the marionette. Mizuki thinks they can sort of understand, given how Mafuyu is completely obedient to her mother, like how a puppet is always being controlled. Mafuyu logs on and sends her lyrics shortly afterwards, which all the other N25 members comment on how different it is to both Yuki and OWN’s usual work. A week later, Kanade produces a song to go alongside Mafuyu’s lyrics, but she still isn’t sure how she feels about it. However, this time, she feels a pain in her heart. Kanade says that she doesn’t believe that Mafuyu is unable to feel joy, and Mizuki thinks that maybe Mafuyu just needs to express her feelings more openly with the other N25 members. Mafuyu isn’t sure if she’ll be able to do that, but agrees to try. With the knowledge that she can feel, she wonders if she’ll be able to find what she’s looking for. In the following days, Mafuyu starts to be more honest with her group mates, even if she’s very blunt about how she feels. Kanade asks Mafuyu if she’s enjoying herself the same way she is, and although Mafuyu still isn’t sure, she thinks that she is.
This event contains the following tropes:
- Brutal Honesty: When Mafuyu starts to be more honest at the end of the event, she is quite blunt about her opinions and doesn't consider how it makes others feel.
- Determinator: Kanade. While her main goal is still to save Mafuyu, in this event she is completely committed to trying to learn more about Mafuyu so she can better understand her feelings.
- Emotionless Girl: The event largely revolves around Mafuyu believing that she is this, while Kanade believes otherwise.
- Trauma Button: The marionette doll reminds her of herself, specifically how she is controlled by her mother, and causes her to have a panic attack and go home sick.
- What Is This Feeling?: Mafuyu is able to feel something when she hears her lyrics put into a song, but isn't sure what it is.
